A high-speed network environment typically includes network devices such as access switches, routers, and bridges used to facilitate delivery of information packets and/or data traffic from source devices to destination devices. Information pertaining to the transfer of packet(s) through the network is usually embedded within the packet itself. Each packet traveling through one or more communications networks such as Internet, multiprotocol label switching (“MPLS”) network, and/or Ethernet can typically be handled independently from other packets in a packet stream or traffic. For example, each node which may include routing, switching, and/or bridging engines processes incoming packets and determines where the packet(s) should be forwarded.
In a high-speed computing network environment, it is critical to maintain high speed traffic flows with minimal data loss and/or packet drop. As such, it is important to detect failures relating to data links, pseudo-wire emulation (“PWE”), and/or connections between the network devices, thereby allowing for traffic flows to be maintained and rerouted so as packet drop(s) is minimized. A problem associated with a high-speed computing network is data (or packet) loss due to data connection(s) or data link failure(s). Data loss can be caused by continuing sending the data packets to a router over a data link after the data link is already closed (or down). For example, standard Ethernet protection such as G.8031 does not protect end-to-end.